Outside The Maze
by ThOuGhT-PuRgES
Summary: The characters leave the maze and are in for quite a surprise. The maze is a popular worldwide reality TV show provides each of them with a large sum of money for their victory in leaving with their lives but how will they integrate back into society while slowly regaining their memories and coming to terms with not only their loved ones but also the people they were before?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

 **Out But Not Free**

" _His first memory, it just had to be the first memory that came back to him once we were out…"_ He thought as he threw his duffle bag to the floor haphazardly, making his way through the dark hotel room. He made his way towards the room's balcony almost as if in a trance. The moon looked bigger, brighter to him. He knew in his head that it had been the same moon that he'd often look up at when inside the walls but seeing it at that very moment where he knew he was safe from whatever was truly out there gave him some sort of security. Although even then he wondered if his thoughts about his surroundings only existed due to the slow recollection of memories that he had to process while thinking to himself whether he's truly the same Thomas that signed up for the reality show or a new person entirely, drawn in by the maze.

"I made it…right?" he looked down at the bustling city of lights and foreign yet familiar sounds. He wondered if "I" even meant something to him anymore or if the real Thomas died as soon as he entered the box.

He couldn't help but revisit the moment he walked on stage once it was finally over…the crowd, his audience, an entourage of his very own, and just his and his alone. His face was printed on every newspaper, every TeeNTV magazine cover, his image captured and distributed on TV for the world to see. Death had seemed to plague the modern world and from its ashes, what seemed like a star was born.

He looked at his phone and smiled as he skimmed through hundreds of text messages from what he assumed were from his parents, friends, and other family members he had still no recollection of.

He sat down in a bright red chair facing thousands of spectators in pure astonishment. He would've never imagined what awaited him outside the maze of all things. He quickly snapped out of his dream world and turned towards the interviewer.

She wore a bright yellow dress with matching heels. She was fairly young, possibly around 24 to 26 with her hair tied up in a bun in a small bow, her skin was almost deathly pale but she had a strange aura around her that seemed to up the mood to whoever had the grace of being around her. "Now, Thomas, spending only 3 weeks inside the maze you managed to do what none of the others had done in the 4 years of this game. Now I'm sure you and the others at the moment are still awestruck by the exciting adventure you're still recovering from just a few days prior. One question to start us off though."

"w-what would that be?" he stuttered

She winked towards the audience, making the crowd ooo and aaa with mischievous giggles from the crowd in between. "Well!" She started, turning back towards Thomas with a smirk "Do you remember your last name yet?"

He chuckled to himself "Well…I haven't exactly…thought of it? I haven't really gotten any memories back… at the moment."

The crowed and pale woman laughed with enthusiasm at his awkward response "It's fine, it's fine" she beckoned with her hand "They'll come back surely enough… BUT!" she signaled the crowd again getting more mischievous laughter and applause "What was truly on our minds was not only the star, you, but also your little, dare I say, love interest?" the crowd went silent as the survivor's face went bright red at such a question. He lowered his head to the ground to hide his ever-growing smile from them all "Now now" she said as she waved her hand as if shooing away the elephant in the room "This is 2066, we're passed such issues, right lovelies" She said as she smiled perkily bringing the audience to a roar once again. The screens around the large studio all changed in sync to a still frame shot of Thomas and what seemed to be Newt in compromising positions. She looked towards the camera with a raised brow and another signature perky smile.

"Holding hands isn't that bad of a crime, is it?" He joked

The interviewer gave the signal and the screens changed to a kiss scene between the two teens. She gave another raised eyebrow to the cameras and a perky smile "I wonder, people back at home…I sure do."

He chuckled to himself again "Okay, okay, I admit it, Newt and I did have a thing and-"

"Did?" She interrupted with an almost worried face as she looked towards the crowd

"W-well we're still together and-"

"So if I'm hearing this right your relationship status has yet to be truly confirmed, is that right?" She questioned

"It's complicated…"

The crowed ooo'd again for what seemed like the thousandth time since they had started broadcasting. It was LIVE on air for everyone at home (wherever that was) to see.

"Well my lovelies, you've heard it straight from the horse's mouth. Complications of survival not only existed in this maze of horrors but love had planted a few seeds of her own. Join us tomorrow at 10pm sharp for our first interview with one of the maze's very own runners from last season as he talks about what he went through, adjusting his life to outside the maze!" She waved goodbye to the cameras as the crowd cheered once again, almost deafening him three times over if it were possible.

He stepped back into his warm hotel room, letting the warm carpet heat his feet from the hard stone balcony floor. He tracked small traces of dirt into the carpet as he walked towards his bed.

He'd thought a quick shower would get all the dirt off of him but he could still find dirt between his toes, under his fingernails, and other parts of his body that would take more than just a simple shower or bath to leave his body.

He quickly unzipped the duffle bag and sighed heavily in relief. Countless stacks of money filled the large sac. With his memories still gone, he had no real attachment or knowledge of how powerful the stacks of paper truly were in this world and the lengths his previous self had gone through to make this happen. His slowly zipped it back up and placed it under the bed, tired and slightly fed up with the excitement (if that's what you'd call it) he'd been going through since he and the others set foot back into the real world.

He checked his cell phone for a second time. The more he stared at the unnaturally bright screen, the more foreign it felt in his hands rather than a stick or a rock. He was waiting for something. Any sort of call, message, it could be by email for all he cared but he needed to know if what they had was still something that mattered to Newt. The conceited, arrogant jock that tortured the blond in class was gone and had been for quite some time realistically but it pained him to not be able to remember who or rather what he was before the maze. He could only guess based on what his maybe boyfriend was shouting at him as he pushed him away with brute strength. If Newt reacted so strongly towards his touch with only one memory returning then he didn't expect to receive any sort of contact with Newt unless it was for some sort of commercial or interview since the remaining inhabitants of the maze were now rich and trending over every kind of social media the average teen has access to.

Thoughts ran through his head, asking himself if he was worth it, who exactly he was before the maze, what the money beneath him even means, it never ended. He gripped his head in frustration, dropping his cell phone lazily to the side.

"I wanted out of the maze but if I knew it meant losing you after all of that… I'm not sure I would've left that place…" he sighed as he tried to make himself comfortable on all too familiarly comfortable yet foreign softness that beds gave.

 **Sooo that was chapter 1! :D**

 **Thank you all so much for reading this. I'll be posting more whenever I get the time so until then, please review and favourite if you like what you've read!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well this chapter took a while to do. I felt like having a chapter that talked a bit about the world they live in but not give away too much information.**

* * *

Chapter 2:

The meeting

His vision was clouded by a bright light that switched from eye to eye every few seconds. "Hey, are you even listening to me? Mom and Dad didn't send me here for nothing, y'know…"

"Can we play doctor another time, kid? I'm trying to sleep."

The boy sighed and nonchalantly turned the small flashlight off and threw it haphazardly behind him, unaware of whatever it could possibly hit or end up in. He resembled Thomas despite his light brown hair; he carried a large portion of Thomas' physical attributes, mostly in his face though. He wore a bright red unzipped hoodie with a dark blue t-shirt underneath with casual blue jeans. "It's 3:30 in the afternoon. You've been sleeping ever since I got here." He groaned

Thomas took a large breath and sat up in his bed "How'd you get in here again?"

"The hotel personnel were alerted that I'd be coming and I got a key from the front desk. They were a little skeptical at first but crying and claiming I wanted my big brother worked out." He said with the biggest grin on his face. He hopped off the bed and skipped over to the couch and brought out a small box of chocolates "Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm a relative of yours but since I doubt your memories are back yet, what do you think I am?"

"Annoying" He groaned as he covered himself back up in an attempt to hopefully fall back to sleep.

"Gee, I'm hurt. I'm your little brother but I might as well be older. Personally, I didn't expect you to even get into that show since dad is the one who made it but here we are."

Thomas poked his head out from under the blanket in interest. "What did you say?" He wasn't exactly sure what to really be questioning though. Such as whether the kid in front of him was telling the truth, whether if he should be wondering why he was talking like someone that should be way older, or if he was just hallucinating.

The boy walked over to the TV remote, pointed it at the TV and turned it on. By the looks of it, it was programmed to be on the news channel every time it was turned back on. Various images and videos were playing and being explained in great detail. "They're talking about the season finale of the game you and your buddies won a few days ago…well, most of your buddies. When you finally discovered how to get out I was pretty ecstatic…" He said with a smile

He couldn't help but smile as he saw the boy happily swinging his legs back and forth as he sat on the couch. He laughed to himself as he realized the boy's feet were too short to reach the carpet.

"I was mostly happy because I didn't have to stay at that annoying afterschool daycare program until mom came home."

Thomas shrank a little as he noticed how particularly unconcerned his supposed younger brother was for his safety. "Oh.."

"But mostly because I really missed you and if you died in there I'm not sure what I'd do with myself. I mean, someone has to be there for me to play cards with."

"That almost sounded nice…" Thomas groaned

"Trust me, with a personality like yours, I try." The boy walked back over towards Thomas and ripped off the blankets with a surprising amount of brute strength. Thomas looked down to notice a small capsule of blue and white pills in his hands which he had a surprisingly strong grip on. "Whenever you sleepwalk, you always seem to steal these from me. It's been a routine every morning ever since dad gave them to me." He stretched open his hand towards Thomas in an attempt to get them back from him willingly, which he did. The boy popped open the capsule and swallowed one without issue. Thomas wasn't sure whether he should be amazed or concerned that the kid could do that so easily. He examined Thomas in an almost robotic manner "You slept in your clothes…gross"

"Why do you take those?" He asked, ignoring the insult

"Because I'm dad's lab rat. He's planning on making it go countrywide within a few years or so. Animal testing is shown to be 98% ineffective on the majority of things targeted towards humans so we abandoned such a process a long time ago." He was met with a blank stare so he kept going "They basically make me more intelligent to an extent. The last time I checked, I think dad told me statistically, I had the brain of an average 14 year old despite only being 10. You used to take them too before you went on the show. They make you gain muscle and process information faster. Oh, and I think it permanently took away your dyslexia." The silence between the two of them went on for what felt like hours. "You should get up. I made you breakfast." He said, pointing to the small kitchen area.

Thomas quickly got up and seemingly flew towards the kitchen to find a large bowl of soggy cereal. He took out a glass and poured some of the milk that was left in the carton. He took large gulps before spitting it out all over the floor "This is spoiled!" He shouted in surprised

"I didn't think China heard you clearly enough. Wanna try that again, Tom?"

"Didn't you realize this had gone bad?!" He shouted in frustration.

" .10. I can just barely see over the counter without a chair." Thomas wasn't sure whether the entire pill story was true or not but it seemed it clearly didn't help every aspect of the boy's brain. It seems he was still a child at heart from the looks of it. "Which reminds me" He walked over towards the hotel room's entrance where his backpack was and pulled out a small bag carrying what looked like the basic necessities of an average 17 year old. There was a cell phone, ear buds, a toothbrush, some toothpaste, among other things.

Thomas looked towards his bed and back at his brother "Oh, I bought a new phone a few days ago and used a note I left for myself to get into all my accounts and stuff so I could try to jog any memories."

He dropped the small bag to the floor almost instantly "Well I guess that should be expected coming from someone who went through a serious case of amnesia."

Thomas' stomach rumbled. He leaned down so that they were at eye level with each other. "How about I just buy us some breakfast? I think a was a small café area near this hotel and it has all you can eat breakfast!"

"Don't patronize me and we won't have a problem"

* * *

" _The kid has a poker face"_ he thought to himself as he stood up and prepared to get ready

"Pancakes!" He shouted in delight as the waitress brought over their food. Thomas smiled unconsciously. The kid really was a child at heart despite taking those brain steroids. He wasn't sure why but he was acquiring an odd fondness for him which he couldn't place his finger on. He assumed it was due to the fact that despite losing his memories, the emotional connection was still present inside of him no matter how deep inside him it could be.

"So let me get this straight and you can correct me if I'm wrong, okay?" The boy nodded as his messily cut into the stack of hot pancakes.

"So, your name is David, we're half brothers, our last names are Caron, we live in…..-"

"Atlanta." He interrupted.

"Right, right, I was born in…Canta-"

" .da, smart one."

"You're not going to make me go any faster if you keep insulting me like that." He glared. He wasn't sure what would happen if he hit the kid since there were a lot of people in the shabby somewhat crowded place. The aura gave off one of those old diners you'd see in those movies from the 90s. Once you walked in, a cloud of burger grease mixing with the fumes of either cigarette smoke or flammable hairspray and Thomas wasn't sure which one made him want to pass out more. He thought back to the night Newt got angry at him when his first memory came back. He was eager to know if the person Newt remembered was truly a bad person.

"You haven't touched your pancakes yet…" David said with a somewhat concerned look on his face.

"You can have them if you want-"

"You NEVER leave food on your plate. You're thinking about something that's bothering you, right?"

Thomas took a deep breath "Can you tell me about…well, me?" David looked at him with a raised brow, somewhat skeptical of his true intentions. "I'm just curious, that's all. I mean, who knows when they could be coming back to me, right?"

The 10 year old simply nodded, finished his pancakes and pushed the plate to the side for the waitress to pick up when she came around. He folded his arms on the table and leaned in "What do you wanna know, Tommy?"

"Just who I was…before the maze." He began to unconsciously mimic his brother's actions. Folding his arms over the table as well.

"First, I want you to finish everything on that plate. Hunger issues may have ended in the majority of the poverty stricken areas of the world in the past but nothing should be taken for granted."

"Okay, so start talking" He said as he finished his plate including the syrup.

"Well to start things off, you weren't exactly the best brother in the world. There would rarely be moments where you and I would actually talk to each other like human beings. We'd mostly fight and bully each other. You always took it too far though."

"Oh…" The silence between them stretched for what again felt like hours

"Can we leave now, I think I'm getting used to the smell of this place already" Thomas nodded in response. He paid for the food and they left.

"Fresh air!" Thomas shouted

"Can I ask you a question?" David asked as they walked outside the diner.

"Go for it I guess. It's been nothing but questions lately."

"Well, I was just curious about your views on where we are. You have a fresh slate at the way you see the outside world. Weren't you amazed by the city's skyscrapers, all the people, the lack of walls surrounding you."

He gave it some thought. "Something else has been on my mind lately that I really need to deal with soon. But when I left the maze with the others, I was really overwhelmed…to be honest, overwhelmed is an understatement."

"Not surprising, there's usually quite a few suicides after each season."

"How can you say something like that so easily?"

"That's just the way things are now. Our population is pretty large so the value of human lives is pretty low. Unless you're a friend or a relative, usually nobody really bothers to care. Ordinarily, orphans or people from generally low income households are involved with shows like The Maze since nobody will really miss them. It may seem crazy to you but I don't blame you. That's just the way things are now."

"We're going to cross the street, hold my hand, okay?"

"I think I'll manage. I'm not as helpless as I look." He pressed the button and waited for the light to signal them to go.

"What if I wanted to change the way things were around here?!" He asked

"Speak louder why don't you. We'd be going against a very powerful group of people. I know this isn't just for our benefit. There's someone you want to do it for, right?" He asked as they walked across the street. Only then did he notice that he unconsciously grabbed Thomas' hand.

* * *

"I told you I can't remember anything! Nothing is coming back! I can't even remember who my parents are or if I even have parents. Wouldn't they have been bloody notified or watching?!"

"I'm sorry but I'm unable to answer those questions since I am just your therapist and nothing more."

The blond brought his hands to his head and took a breath. "They're expecting me to do an interview soon…"

"And by 'they' you mean the people who organized the popular television show, correct?"

Newt nodded with his hands still covering his face in frustration. "I'm not sure what I was bloody thinking signing up for this in the first place…I literally bloody can't remember what I was thinking." He pulled out the one thing his prior self left for him before he entered the maze, his cell phone. "Over 52 unread messages" he muttered to himself. "Do you mind if we end today's session a bit early?"

"By all means. Once you show progress then you can leave all this behind you."

Newt nodded and got up from the couch he had been lying on. He knew in his mind what he had to do. He knew interviews were only the beginning. The truth was that he never felt like he had left the maze. In the eyes of the person he is now, the maze was everywhere and he needed to put an end to it one way or another.

"Thomas, it went straight to voicemail so I'll get right to it. The producers want us to attend an interview session two days from now. Listen, I don't know where we are when it comes to our relationship but…if we don't play along we'll regret it so just please, don't do anything stupid."

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 **Okay so that's the end of chapter 2! This is basically an alternate universe where the world outside the maze isn't completely destroyed (^_^;)**

 **Please review, it helps a lot!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well this chapter is basically a little bit of filler while I do my homework. This chapter basically deals with Newt and his small discoveries about his past. He still doesn't remember everything but he along with the others will get there and yes, I plan on bringing in Alby and Gally soon. The first three chapters are a day to day thing but since we're past the third chapter now, I think I'll update every Friday or Saturday depending on my workload from school. Anyway, if you have any theories or suggestions on what'll happen next, leave a review! ^_^**

 **Oh and there's not as much dialogue as there was in the previous chapters. If anything, it's more with thoughts and descriptions. I hope it doesn't bother anybody or anything.**

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Chapter 3:

Newt

The room around him was dark and void of light besides the spotlight shining on him as he sat down in the chair. "So why exactly do you want to be on The Maze? Was it for the money? The experience? The fame?" the interviewer asked. The voice was male but he was out of the camera's line of sight

He chuckled to himself "It's definitely for the money. When you're watching the show at home you can always look at it on a screen and see everything in a sort of….omnipotent level…so I think when people sign up for the show they think surviving would be easy but I came in here knowing full well that I might never get to see the outside world again."

"So through each season have you noted the fact that the scenarios the players are put in is always different. Season 1 had an island, season 2 had a medieval dungeon aura to it, season 3 had real zombies from areas 4, 5, and 12…and I've heard that there was an information leak on what setting season 4 would be. Have you heard about it?"

"Well quite frankly who hasn't bloody heard of it?" He chuckled "Even though this season will be quite literal to the title of the show, that doesn't somehow take the edge off of it. I know I should be scared for my life but I don't feel like it will be a bloodbath like the season 2 massacre."

"mhmmm cannibalism started quite early once their resources ran out. Last time I checked, only one person came out alive in that season and I don't think his mind is in a very….comfortable state."

"Good god" he muttered as he rubbed his hands over his face out of nervousness.

"Too late to back out now!" The interviewer joked

He chuckled to himself "I plan on making it out alive so let's hope the producers don't kill us off" He joked with a small hint of fear in his voice.

The screen began to buzz and scramble the film before shutting it off. Newt took a breath as he got up and took out the old VHS tape he had saved his interview on before he had entered the maze 2 years ago. He looked around him to try to get a better sense of where he was. He knew that this place was the house he had spent his entire life in prior to the maze due to the abundance of photos and belongings around the dusty place that either had him in them or his name crudely written on them with red crayon. The place was relatively small two story house. Once you walked in the front door, the kitchen was immediately in front of you, white tiles at your feet, a large fridge to the right, and a small very old TV on the greenish counter with the other electrical appliances. Further down, the white tiles were met with light brown carpet where the living room was. Just another TV (although quite modern compared to the one in the kitchen), a few family photos on the walls, a few pieces of furniture, and a small closet. To the left of the fridge beside the front door were stairs going up leading to the bedrooms and bathroom. By the looks of it, nobody had been living here for quite some time. On the table was an old answering machine blinking red. Newt opened the window above the sink in the kitchen to air it out a bit before walking towards the answering machine. Even though he felt as if he had never seen something so old in his life, he knew how to use it as if he had seen and interacted with the thing every day despite them being severely outdated. He also noted that in all the family photos on the walls he had seen, none had an older female figure; just him and what was probably his dad judging by the resemblance. He was a taller, blond, pale, built man who mostly wore shades in the majority of the photos. Judging by the difference in some of their facial features, he probably got his eyes and jaw line from his mother.

Before pressing anything on the machine, he noticed a second thing he was instructed to play. It was in the form of a disk with a small sticky note that read "play me" in semi-legible writing. There was a short pause before the video began to play and by the looks of it, Newt had recorded it himself a few days prior to finally entering The Maze. He smirked at how high his voice was compared to now.

He watched as his younger self set the camera on some sort of stand that appeared to be leveled with his face. "I don't know when or how long I'll be gone but since there have been incidents where a contestant's memories never resurface fully, I'm making this video."

" _I never thought my voice would've been that high back then…"_ He thought to himself

"I have…well by the time you'll be watching this, I had a family. Not the typical mom, dad, sister, and brother type of family, just me, my dad, my sister, and my dog but as I've said, by the time you'll be watching this they'll all be gone…" Newt watched as his former self tried to keep a strong composure. It was only the start of the video and his former self was on the verge of tears. "For the sake of it, I'll just use present tense…" He went off screen for a moment and a few things fumbled in the background before his face reemerged. He brought out a small family picture containing the 3 of them along with the family dog. "Dad is in the military and has been since he was roughly 16, I think. He went to fight against this virus called the flare and it turned regular people like us into crazy cannibals. Luckily, the virus and the infected have been pushed back to the farthest regions on the planet away from humanity even though today we have a cure; the infected still exist in those far regions away from us. They're known as areas 4, 5, and 12 and their exact locations are hidden from the public but heavily secured." He was surprised with the information that was given to him. Small bits and pieces started to appear inside his head. It started with the voices of loved ones, images of birthdays, and school yet they were still very cloudy and hard to remember.

"Dad would be in these areas fighting them and he'd send my sister and I short vlogs over the computer. Our sister was still really small at the time so she didn't really pay much attention to them. Overtime it would be voice messages….then one day it was just static." His younger self paused for a moment to collect himself. He looked no older than 16 so it fit the time gap. He was still curious about what happened to his sister. "By the time you're watching this you should be around 19 so I guess you're wondering where our sister is…she got hit by a car….and it was all my fault. I was supposed to be watching her but I was too busy talking to some boy….and…basically she was there…there in the hospital for weeks recovering. The doctors told me she wouldn't live but she was what made me want to get into The Maze. I thought…I thought if I had the money to help her, she'd live and I'd have something…anything really to make up for it and live for, I'd be alright but she didn't last long and by the time I found out…here I am, a few days or so before I compete." Newt felt sick from the new information given to him. He couldn't imagine himself being so negligent towards a family member after the loss of someone he loved prior. Was the person he was in the past so different to the person he is now. Once all his memories returned he felt like he would have the answer but currently it was as if he was getting a history class lecture. It may have been his life at one point but he had been getting tired of hearing purely bad news. He touched the screen and skipped a few minutes ahead since the video was considerably long. He stopped and skipped between every few minutes of video to get a better understanding within a shorter amount of time. He had to prepare for the interview. Bringing down WICKED would be a tough job and he'd need more than just Thomas by his side.

He walked over to the table and double tapped the edge while using his middle finger to navigate the virtual screen. He wasn't sure how he remembered or even what he was doing but it came off as instinct to him. The files stored on the virtual table…screen…or whatever it seemed to be was connected to the answering machine. With further inspection Newt realized that for years and years, every single day of the year before he joined The Maze, his father had been sending him voice messages. Some were explaining his absence in great detail, others about when he'll be home, and some just seconds long with a simple "I love you" in them. Newt wanted to cry, smile, anything but with his vague understanding of everything the only emotions he felt were confusion and pain. He sniffled as tears streamed down his cheeks. He wasn't crying out of sadness or happiness but out of frustration and anger. Such things were foreign to him. In times like these he'd be filled with answers, guidance, and know exactly what to do, which was why he was second in command back in the glade. He absolutely hated being left alone with his thoughts ever since he entered The Maze. He heard his heart beating, his frequent irrational thoughts of what would kill him or how he'd die, his nightmares, but the worst was the silence. He had nothing before The Maze to reflect on or gain guidance from. Looking back on it, it's probably what makes the show so interesting to watch.

* * *

 **Well that's the end of chapter 3! I wasn't quite sure how to really end it in a way so I just left Newt with his thoughts ironically. Anyway, if you have any theories or suggestions on what'll happen next, leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Thomas

Thomas felt dizzy just staring at the monumental structure from the sidewalk. From a block away it seemed like any other regular company building but up close it was eye catching to him. The structure was almost transparent and gave off a vibe from one of those science fiction novels of the past that grabbed his attention when he was smaller.

"So this is it, right?"

"You tell me…look around you. This screams WICKED corp." David replied, almost completely out of breath. Their trip towards WICKED involved mostly running and the occasional bus they actually managed to catch. "Was there any reason we had to sprint here?! You should've carried me! Your legs are longer-"

"Shh" He interrupted. He pointed up towards one of the cameras at the front that turned with every movement they made.

"Have you forgotten already that our father OWNS WICKED?" He emphasized "They know exactly who you are. We were requested to come here for crying out lou-" Thomas quickly kneeled down to his brother's level and covered his mouth. "We'll talk more when we get inside."

David couldn't help but laugh as they went through the automatic doors. "Do you actually think anybody would take you seriously if you threatened to take down WICKED? Especially us of all people? We're rich purely because of this company and nothing else. It's time you understood how much of a waste of time coming here was." Thomas spun around towards David who was lagging behind him; his fists clenched in anger for reasons he wasn't quite sure of. The anger on his face was clearly visible.

"Can I help you two with someth-" A woman asked, interrupting them from what was about to be a full blown fight.

"Dad please." David interrupted. His tone of voice seemed very cold or rather, colder than it was before. The woman nodded and quickly brought them towards the elevator and pushed the top floor. "We don't need anything by the way." He told her. It was as if he knew exactly how the scene was going to play out. She nodded once more and left them as soon as the elevator doors had closed.

Thomas wasn't sure whether to hit him or to just go along with it. With an attitude that seemed to fluctuate so often, he wasn't sure if hitting his brother would result in some sort of physical altercation he wouldn't be able to get himself out of. "Do you always treat the people here like that?" he questioned.

"You're not such a saint yourself. Believe it or not, you were worse than I was if you call what I did rude."

"I never said that."

"I know but you were thinking it."

The doors opened, leaving Thomas in pure awe. The office was surprisingly large. It was as if this whole building had used the entire floor as the man's personal room. Looking from the outside, it was easy to underestimate how big the building WICKED resided in actually was. Thomas saw many photos adorning the desk and walls. Some were pictures of him with his accomplishments while others were various awards won by the man who claimed to know him so well. "That's odd. He's not here." David muttered. Thomas quickly walked passed him and examined the room around them more thoroughly.

"Woah…" his mouth was left agape as he picked up one of the many framed photos on the furniture. "So I met the president?!" David simply nodded. He picked up and gawked at a few of the other photos within his line of sight. Some were of him in the midst of playing baseball, accepting awards, formal occasions, and other miscellaneous events. "Did I really do all of these things?"

"Well they wouldn't be framed and in his office if they weren't…" He muttered almost quiet enough for Thomas not to hear.

What's your problem? You've been like this since we got here?" He asked as he walked towards him.

"I thought you would've taken the hint that I don't like being here. Even before The Maze you'd force me to come here for the sake of the family business."

"Family business?" those words rang some sort of bell in his head for some strange reason. But then it happened. Something had just clicked inside Thomas' head. For the first time, a memory, a full one.

He cracked his knuckles and lifted the vending machine from the bottom almost effortlessly. The onlookers stared and clapped in amazement. He smiled wide as he received his rightfully deserved attention. After all, he was the future of humanity, or so he had been told.

A man in a black suit put his hands on Thomas' shoulders from behind. If it weren't for the fact that they were father and son, their resemblance would've been almost uncanny. "As you can see, my new line of strength inducing pills work very well." The man said. Thomas beamed another smile as he still held the machine in his hands as if it were nothing. The crowd clapped and cheered again for him again. Some were spectators; others were scientists, either way he was being broadcasted for the world to see. He would be the face that changed humanity. (1)

"These pills temporarily disable the parts of our brain that prohibit us from using our full strength without damaging or affecting how we function or process information as a whole. With these, we could revolutionize how we build things, how we live-"

"What if the military gets their hands on these new drugs?!" A reported interrupted

"What about side effects?!" Another chirped

"Have you heard what people are saying about you for testing these new and allegedly unstable products on your own children?" Another shouted as the flash of cameras virtually blinded the performers.

The crowd was silenced by the ear splitting sound of metal hitting the hardwood floor; the sound bouncing off the walls of the large room. "Shut up! My father is a great man! He does everything for me!" Thomas yelled. He wished to say more but his had put his hand on his shoulder, silencing him. "This product is still in development but is set to be released very soon. It also should be noted that one of the side effects are anger issues."

He ordered Thomas to be escorted off the stage before speaking once more. "Further questions will be answered tomorrow at town hall after my son, who I am very proud of, goes to his first meeting with the mayor."

He quickly snapped out of his trance, hearing the sound of a door closing shut. "Don't I get a hug?" He heard a strange voice ask.

"No!" He heard David shout "We had to take several buses to get here and all the seats were sticky!"

"Even after all these years, public transportation never seems to change…"

Thomas' eyes finally focus on the world around him. The man he saw David talking to held quite the resemblance to the both of them. He was a few inches taller than Thomas; around 6 feet tall give or take, and wore an average black suit. He seemed virtually indistinguishable from any other businessman who walked the streets of the inner city. Before he knew it, he was being embraced in an almost rib crushing hug, lifting him off the ground. "You've lost a few pounds, haven't you? I remember not being able to even lift you at all."

"He still doesn't remember us, dad." David sighed

The man put Thomas back on the ground and ushered them over towards his desk. They took their seats across from him. Behind him was a large window with a great view of the daytime city. "So what can I do for my boys?" He said with a smile. "I have so many questions to ask you, Thomas. Frankly, I expected you to be on your way to the capital right now but I assume it should've been expected of me to give you the answers David couldn't." The man's blue eyes were an odd shade of blue that seemed quite intimidating to Thomas despite seeing how friendly he was towards him and his brother's apathy towards the conversation.

Thomas kept his eyes glued to the spotless wooden desk. "I…I saw the photos in your office."

His father smiled as he looked at the photos around his office. "You don't say?" He joked. "I need something to keep me motivated while I'm in here and seeing the faces of my boys give me what I need." His words made Thomas unconsciously smile. "So what do you want to know?" He asked curiously.

He drew blanks. He couldn't think of what to say. Here he was sitting in front of the man that started it all and yet he couldn't think of anything he wanted to know. Truthfully, rather than someone asking him what specifically he wanted to know, he just wanted to be told everything necessary.

David rolled his eyes and jumped in the conversation. "That secretary you like a lot annoys me. She treats me like a child." He pouted.

"Oh? But she's worked here for so long. She practically helped raise you when your mother and I weren't around."

"Well I don't like her. Can you fire her pweeees?"

The man gave a simple shrug and dialed the number one the phone. Before he could raise it up towards his face, Thomas quickly grabbed it from him and forcibly hung to phone up. He received a glare from David but didn't care. He found it somewhat scary and surprising how easily he seemed to be able to get his way around this place. Even with his limited memory, he could see what his younger brother was trying to do. He looked for ways to gain the upper hand in a world he had little control over.

"That's interesting…" The man stated, completely unfazed by Thomas' actions.

"What?" Thomas questioned.

"The Maze's temporary memory suspension equipment has changed you. If anything, you're a whole lot more sympathetic than you were before." He stated as he examined Thomas.

He scratched his back. "What exactly is the family business? David mentioned it earlier and I'm not really sure about what he meant."

He smiled widely at his son's new found curiosity for the world around him. He seemed like a newborn baby to him. Full of thoughts without any solid answers to fully dictate his actions and show him how to perceive the world; just random impulses from social norms and his ingrained personality. "You probably have a lot of questions like why games like this exist, why they can be so cruel, how we can sit down with our families and watch something or post about things that seem so barbaric. The world wasn't always like this either though." Thomas simply gave a nod. "Can I interest the two of you in a tour?" He said with a smile.

* * *

 **1 - I hope it wasn't hard to realize that the narration is a mix of 3rd person omnipotent and Thomas' actual thought process at the time.**

 **Anyway, this is the end of chapter 4! I hope it was up to standard and didn't feel rushed. I wasn't quite sure how to really end it so I just left it off here rather than going into more detail. What to expect in the next chapter will be what the "Family business" is and the power the family has over the country. Where I'm going with this is basically Thomas learning what it means to be…well him in a sense.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: New Discoveries Part 1**

 **Note: David's name has now been changed to Dylan. It was supposed to be Dylan from the start but I guess I made a pretty big mistake (^_^;**

 **I kind of just split this into 2 parts since I just needed to post a new chapter to make up for my lack of activity at the moment. School has been so busy lately and I get so many projects. Anyway, review and all that fun stuff!**

* * *

"Well…that…w-was fun!" He said between gasps of air as he pulled his head through the collar of his sweater. "We should do that again if you're up for it."

He turned his head with a smile; looking at the older blond who began searching around the bed's frame for his lost socks. "You talk as if we actually did something dirty and last time I checked, cuddling while watching cat videos isn't what I'd call a good time." He said with a smirk. "When will your parents be up? We should probably leave early so your dad doesn't catch me here again."

Thomas shrugged with a smile as he searched for a new pair of pants. "I told my butler not to pick out my clothes today so I might be a few minutes. It's been a while since I've actually picked out my own clothes." He said as he rummaged through his clothes' pockets. Thomas was indeed aware that not everyone around him had access to such a carefree life like he did so whenever he spoke casually about certain factors in his day to day life it always seemed to come out with an arrogant tone to it. He had tried to work on this problem several times but with no avail.

"Is that for me?" The mysterious blond boy asked as Thomas pulled a small candy from his back pocket.

He smirked to himself as he read the labels on the wrapper. He tossed the lollipop towards the older boy as he began to change his typical pair of blue jeans. "Oh wait" The blond gasped; causing Thomas to jump slightly.

"What's up?" He questioned as he made his way over to the bed, leaving small footprints on the cream coloured carpet that covered his bedroom floor.

"I can't eat this." He said as he held the treat up to Thomas' face.

Thomas gave the fine print on the candy a quick read before unwrapping it haphazardly and placing it in his mouth. "Don't worry, it's sugar free, I remembered." He said as he crawled onto his bed and pinning the blond below him.

"My mistake." He chuckled as he grew nervous of Thomas' intentions.

"Wanna taste test?" He asked the blond; taking the lollipop out of his mouth and gently forcing it in the other's mouth.

Without warning, the bedroom cabinet doors burst open; the person occupying it, falling flat on his face. The raven haired teen quickly stood up and tread towards his cabinet's occupant.

"I'm telling dad! Mom and dad said that you couldn't have anyone in the house on school days! Your room especially." The younger brother shouted.

Thomas pulled him up angrily by the wrist with minimal effort. He clenched his fists harder; making the preteen try harder to free himself from his grasp. "Dylan?! What the hell are you doing in my room?!" He threw him to the floor and grabbed his jacket from pile of freshly clean clothes that were kept neatly in the wardrobe before a certain someone made their grand entrance. He squatted down to get on eye level with his familiar. "Mom and dad aren't going to find out shit and I'll bring whoever I want into my room since oh I don't know, maybe since it's my room!"

He stood back up and stood just inches away from his elder's face. "We'll see what they have to say about it then!"

Thomas' menacing expression quickly changed into a smile as he stood up and went through his wallet. "How much do you want? 20? 40?"

"Give me 60 bucks and I'll forget your boy toy was even here."

"Boy toy?" The blond snorted; still sitting comfily on his lover's bed.

"He goes through dates like he goes through clothes. He'll be done with you in another week or so. Who knows, maybe he'll bring home a girl." He turned his head to Thomas whose eyes might as well have been death lasers at that point in time. "Isn't that the pattern, Tommy? Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy?"

"So are you interested?" The voice snapped Thomas back to the reality that felt more like a nightmare to him. It felt almost too real to him. He was in his body; carrying out those very actions but at the same time, he was simply a bystander who might as well have been watching a movie in a foreign language.

His father beamed a smile. He seemed completely aware of what was going on with the raven haired boy. "I'm glad to see the champ is making progress up there. You were spaced out for at least a minute."

Thomas shook his head lightly. "Everything felt so real. I realize they're memories when I come to but it's like these memories are someone else's…"

"That's pretty much expected. You were only on The Maze for a few weeks so you'll gain your memories a lot faster than the other survivors." Dylan stated.

"I'm just glad you made it out safe and sound. You did really well out there and I'm proud of you." His father's words forced a smile onto his face. "What you did in that maze, how you guided those people, it was-"

"Stop, dad, it's fine…I get it." Thomas interrupted. He knew full well what the man was going to say and he had heard the same thing over and over by fans on the street on a day to day basis and frankly, he had had enough of being "famous" for a very long time if it were possible to end.

"Anyway, I've cancelled the interview you were supposed to have in order to get us some more quality time. Something we really haven't done enough of in a very long time. Besides, all the familiar scenery might jog some memories." The man gave Thomas a wink and continued talking. "Now, what I have here is something we've been working on in the lab for a few weeks now and it's in its final stages." He brought out a few small capsules of bright yellow and pink pills.

"What do they do?" Dylan questioned.

"Telepathic abilities"

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 **Well that's the end of Chapter 5 part 1. I know it's really short but bear with me .**


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes: Since this does take place in a universe separated from the canon storyline, I added my own little things here and there that differ from the original scorch virus, its origins, and what the scorch was. Because of the slight fall of society during this universe's history, the dates and time periods of certain events that've taken place in their world are pretty ambiguous and aren't questioned. The time periods in our own world are different from this world also. E.g. Although in our timeline, the first television broadcast happened in 1936, in this world it happened somewhat earlier. A rough estimate around 1904-1908. So their world developed surprisingly faster than our own for some strange, unexplainable reason.**

 **Also, there will be a lot of time skips because while this is in the 3rd person. It focuses mostly on Thomas and the way he sees things and how he perceives them to an extent. The somewhat omnipotent 3rd person gives you a better understanding of the characters but other characters (obviously) aren't aware of each other's thoughts.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: New Discoveries Part 2**

He smiled as the lights switched on in front of him. The monitor's picturesque transparent appearance amazed the boy but also gave him a sense of familiarity. Almost as if he had spent hours, days even, typing keys, skimming samples of texts at a time, multitasking with a primitive pen and paper. He sighed to himself as he adjusted his seat and took a long look of the world around him.

The thoughts and visuals the room captured gave him both a familiar yet foreign feeling to him. The large room was lined with long, thick desks that largely resembled kitchen countertops—clearly a chemistry classroom—if the large wooden shelves against the walls that were stacked with standard chemistry supplies weren't a dead giveaway.

He laid his hand out in front of the transparent screen and clenched it into a fist before swatting the air as if it were a fly. The documents he had set his mind to earlier had been saved and closed while a familiar, dark blue social networking site had opened to take its place. He let out a loud yawn with outstretched arms.

"Time?" he asked, finally breaking the room's dead silence.

"The current time is 3:45AM." a personalized robotic female voice declared.

The teen gave the small laptop a look of disbelief when it brought up a small tab that displayed that it was indeed the time. He wiped his eyes and let out another yawn. It was unusual for him to be up this late on a school night. Originally, he planned on catching up on work for a few of his classes—granted, he had gotten distracted with other things throughout the day—but the tech savvy teenager had managed to finish a few weeks worth of schoolwork in a day. He had grown accustomed to the dormitory styled high school conditions and was quite lucrative when he put his mind to a task; so along with his reputation of being apart of The Glade and his work ethics at school, things weren't so bad for him.

His curiosity was later focused on the black countertop that was surprisingly free of graffiti. With further inspection of the counter he had his stuff resting on, he noticed that the bench-top wasn't as clean as he had previously assumed. _'Gally wuz here 2063'_ was crudely scratched into the dark black material with what he guessed was scratched in with scissors. 'Had it really been that long?' Gally thought to himself before getting lost in his own thoughts about what exactly the bench-tops had been made out of. Day dreaming seemed to be Gally's most recurring habit since his release seeing as he could finally stay still and gather his thoughts without having to check his surroundings or having them get abruptly interrupted to aid someone else's needs.

He looked back at the monitor and was almost taken aback by his own image. His dark blue hoodie hung tightly around his body—one of the few reminders of the old world being his muscular physique. Despite the majority of appliances being quite transparent, the inconvenience of reflections weren't things of the past just yet. The dirt, grime, and tears that had covered his face in the past still felt visible to the boy regardless of how much time seemed to go by since he had returned to human sanctuary. The contrast was evident in his eyes. Although his tan had begun to fade, his hair was now well kept, and he wore fresh, clean clothing, the scars would never leave. It was as if the emotionally unstable alpha that existed in the only world he had known before hadn't existed at all. The sun never scorched him anymore.

 _He dusted himself off; stepping out of the black SUV nonchalantly. The suit the raven haired boy was wearing wasn't really suited for nature's woodland terrain._

 _Thomas put his sunglasses on as he felt the sun's harsh beams against his face. "So this is it, right?" He asked, looking towards the driver's seat._

 _The man inside stepped out of the car with various papers and notebooks in hand; keeping mind to leave the car's ignition on._

" _Aren't you going to turn that off?" Thomas asked with a slight tone of concern._

 _The man pulled his sunglasses out from his left pocket and put them on; not paying any mind to Thomas' question. "So now you choose to speak?" the silence between them grew as he waited for an answer. The man sighed and scribbled a few signatures on a clipboard; putting the rest of the papers in a medium sized satchel that slung across his shoulder. "Believe me, kid" he said between more note-taking "If you knew what I knew about this place, you'd leave the engine running too."_

" _I know what happened here. Way back during the outbreak, this place was infested with those zombies." The man gave the teen a raised brow so he continued. "Where we are was declared safe almost 20 years ago but people still wouldn't step anywhere near this place."_

 _The man smirked at him. "Not too bad, kid. I suggest getting into the history books a little more though. They were never zombies. Zombies are nothing like what those things were…now since the disease is almost extinct, people think it's okay to joke and laugh about these things like it never even happened. All those people who lost their lives would be rolling over in their graves if they saw what our society has become."_

" _If they had graves." Thomas interjected._

 _The man paced over to Thomas. His hands clenched tightly into fists with eyes that were stabbing into the young man relentlessly. Too close for comfort would be an accurate description in Thomas' mind but only now did he notice the man's features. He was by no means old but his dark, jet black hair had small streaks and signs of grey at the sides, his face slowly submitting to the hands of time with a few wrinkles under his eyes and near his mouth yet by no means were they noticeable unless a careful eye examined him. He had a fit build for someone of his age in Thomas' perspective and the pure white suit he was wearing carried him well._

" _Go ahead...hit me." Thomas ordered confidently. He was well aware of his power over the majority of the people that worked at his father's company despite the majority of them having grandiose amounts of experience under their own belts._

" _The kids of your generation are a bunch of over entitled punks. You've never known what it was like to survive out there. It was a hell of a lot easier when people like you just died…" He backed away from the young man and began to walk into the small world that had been lost in time._

 _Turning their attention to the task at hand, a large, broken down chain link fence separated the two worlds. The structure looked like it had definitely seen better days. Its rusted, jagged appearance along with its contorted attributes gave the viewer a sense of a struggle between man and nature. Whatever had been on the opposing side of the broken down barrier had also been a contribution to the fence's decay—rather than just nature's elements. Barely standing, the once great barrier provided many areas of weakness to be exploited. A strong push would provide enough force to bring a small section of the chain link down._

 _Silence drifted through the desolate paths. Besides the cries of the undergrowth under the weight of their footsteps, signs of life were quite few. Thomas struggled to keep up with the older man who had walked effortlessly and soundlessly over the plant life as if he had made the trip many times prior. "Hey" he called out to him as he almost tripped over his own feet._

" _I said hey!" he shouted just loud enough to get the man's attention yet also with a slight stutter with a slight fear of the unknown escaping from his throat._

" _How come we haven't seen any, y'know, life?" he panted, still attempting to keep up. "It's been well around 30 minutes. I don't even see any buildings yet. You said this place used to be a city at one point so where are we? Do you even know where we're-"_

 _The man came to an abrupt stop; slightly catching Thomas off guard. " " He paused between words and stressed each sound that came out of his mouth as if it were something vile stuck in his mouth. His eyes directed thomas to what appeared to be a forest clearing in the distance. The older man haphazardly shoved the heir forward. Quickly catching himself as he stumbled yet again over the unfamiliar terrain; he confidently made his way from the seemingly primeval forest towards the unknown._

 _Millions of questions drove through the back of his skull as he made his way towards what could've possibly been, literally, anything awaiting him past the clearing. The terrain shuffled and complained as his weight pressed against them; forming shoe prints against the soft surface gave him weird sensations of familiarity. Even though he had never stepped foot in such a place before, he felt as if he belonged in the forest's alluring setting. Almost as if he was drawn to stay there by an inherent calling of the wild that ran through his veins which wasn't just yet abolished from humanity's nature. The greenery, the dirt that stuck to the soles of his shoes, and the sun's light that occasionally peeked through the tall fortresses above became his unrequited lovers as he stepped away from them and into the clearing._

" _l-look! There's a girl here! Come quick!" The heir called out towards his supervisor as he knelt down to inspect his new discovery; paying no mind to the new world that waited just a few metres before his feet._

 _The man nonchalantly picked up his pace and walked over towards the raven-haired boy's discovery. He gave an unimpressed stare as with a hint of annoyance as he looked down on what he had found._

 _The discovery was something the older man had seen a lot in his time. The girl's age was what looked to be around 16-18 years old with unnaturally pale skin that almost harboured reflective properties. She wore clothing that had clearly been deteriorating over time with strange logos and symbols that Thomas couldn't grasp the concept of. He knew better than to touch her and simply awaited for his supervisor to give an order; anything. Whatever he would ask of him, for once, he would follow blindly._

" _What does her shirt mean? It's talking about her anaconda but they don't eat buns." He said as he gave the man a curious expression._

 _With an unfading stone face and a small chuckle, he stood up and continued to walk; expecting the other to follow. "She died around 40 years ago. If you payed attention in history class, you'd know exactly what you were dealing with." He chuckled to himself as he heard a small yelp and the loud shift of dirt and vegetation under Thomas' feet. There was no questioning the fact that Thomas was indeed surprised at the fact that he had been so close to a dead body._

" _How come it's not, y'know, dust by now?!" he exclaimed as he ran faster to catch up to the older man. "Geoffrey! Answer me!" he exclaimed; using the older man's first name in a desperate attempt to obtain the answers his mind so desperately needed._

 _The man, Geoffrey, quickly cupped his hand around Thomas' mouth; forcing Thomas to look at his surroundings. He had been so focused on his new—or rather old discovery—he hadn't noticed his surroundings. His long repressed instincts from a time long gone had been replaced with something foreign to the boy._

 _Below their feet was hard concrete that was disfigured with cracks and overgrowth due to the hands of time. Abandoned cars that seemed frozen in time were scattered around the streets and silence took the place of what could be assumed to be a bustling city at one point in humanity's history. The overgrowth took more than just the streets and the cars but also conquered man's territory in the skies with lush trees that had forced their ways into the skyscrapers; an element of humanity's conquest over nature. Devastation was what instantly came into his mind with the undisturbed silence around him almost driving him near insanity when he felt as if he could hear his own blood flowing through his veins. His head was stuffed with more questions than it had been before._

" _At one point in time, the majority of the planet looked like this." Thomas kept quiet; signaling Geoffrey to go on. "Your family controls the majority of the world for a reason."_

" _Let's just drop it, do what we have to do, then leave this place already."_

 _Geoffrey gave a simple nod and took out a small, transparent ipad-like device from his satchel. He hovered the palm of his hand over the device; making it expand in size almost instantaneously. "Now, let's just see where we need to go." he said as he made a few one handed hand gestures on the tablet's surface. "The workers at WICKED sent us the exact coordinates to receive what we came here for and luckily for us, it's really close."_

" _Let's just hurry up and get out of here." Thomas responded coldly as he rubbed his arms for warmth. Despite the weather being fairly humid at this time in the year, vacant cities that were claimed by the infected faced many irregularities that didn't influence the areas outside their borders. "I thought areas that had cranks in them were really hot."_

" _Normally, yes, but the areas cool down significantly when the infected are purged from the area. We still don't know how or why this happens." he said as he placed the tablet back into his satchel. "If everything goes right then we should be able to get you back home by 10am tomorrow morning. He turned his attention back to Thomas "Something bothering you?"_

 _His eyes bore into the older man and his pupils dilated; significantly taking up the majority of his irises with only small tints of brown on the outer edges being visible. "What are you talking ab-" He cut himself off as he began to notice the changes in himself. His skin became astonishingly pale with dark circles under his eyes changing to a dark purple. His vision became cloudy and he stumbled in an attempt to get Geoffrey's support to avoid collapsing on the cold concrete. "What's happening to me?" Thomas stuttered. His vision began to blur as he fought to remain conscious— or rather that's what he remembered— without any form of resistance, he went out like a light._

"Thomas?"

The woman's voice snapped him back into reality. Thomas glanced at his surroundings almost completely dumbfounded as to where he was. The couch he was sitting on was a light cream colour and matched the room. The room had a neutral colour scheme. A large wardrobe sat between the two tall windows on the left side of the room, which brought in the warmth of natural light that shone off of the shelved trinkets tucked away on the wall next to them; which spanned a great distance. Tucked away in the shelves and cabinets that lined the wall in front of them had large assortments of books that grew in genre from children's books to large, outdated dictionaries. The floor was a rich brown with a large cream coloured rug with complex geometric patterns woven in with a darker tan. On top of it was a coffee table decorated with a small lamp and a few scented candles, around the table was a couch that faced the wall of books along with four plush arm chairs that were placed on other sides of the table. The chairs also matched the rug.

"You scared me for a moment there. Your father just tells me to leave you to your thoughts when you daydream like that but I just don't like seeing you so helpless." The woman spoke. When she got no response from Thomas she continued. "I'm your mother. But if you think it's a little weird then you can just call me Ava, Ava Paige." She told him as she placed his hands in her own and gently caressed them.

It took a second before Thomas' eyes slightly widened and a small smile formed on his face. His mother, unsure of what could possibly be on her son's mind, simply waited for any further sort of visual queues to confirm what she had assumed. "M….Mom. You're….my….mom." Thomas uttered those words over and over as if in a trance. With each time the words rolled off his tongue, it's as if they became more clear to him despite the lack of memories to back up his theories. He was torn from his thoughts when the woman delightfully drew him in with a soft embrace into her chest.

Ava rocked him back and forth, still cradling him as he was buried into a tighter hug. "I was afraid we lost you. You were in your own little world for hours. You'd only respond with little grunts and only move around to eat or use the bathroom." Thomas closed his eyes and fought the urge to cry. He couldn't understand why he had began or what he was trying not to cry about but he had the strange, familiar sense of home and family. These feelings were things he longed for and wondered when he had spent those weeks in The Maze. Thoughts of rebellion and restoration were at the back of his mind. Could an alliance with the boyfriend he hadn't seen since their release really benefit him or the world he had gotten to know? Having a little bit of leisure and fun in his life couldn't hurt, right?

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 **Well what did you think? I tried to add more detail and content than the previous chapters.**


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